10 Ways to Get Your Toddler to do Chores

Sometimes it’s hard to get man-cubs to do chores. Here are some recommendations from other mamas on what they’ve done to encourage their toddlers:

Brushing teeth

“You brush my teeth, while I brush yours” method.

Let your child do it first, and then they can spit and get a drink. Then it’s mom’s turn to brush their teeth. This way they can do it themselves AND get a second spit and drink.

Putting up clothes/ toys

Pretend the folded clothing piles are foods to be delivered to the drawers– pizzas, cakes, pies and other “special deliveries.” Pretend the toys are going on trips to other lands. Or pretend you are capturing criminals and putting them in toy box prisons.

Pay them a penny for every thing they picked up.

Pretend you are elves and use “magic” to pick things up. Then when the older kids or dad get home you tell them elves came and cleaned the house.

Cleaning

A reward sticker chart. When they do a chore a certain number of times & they get a reward: toy, treat, special time with mom or dad, etc.

Pretend you are a deep sea divers looking for treasure (cleaning out from under their beds).

Make a list and let your little mark off things when you finish and pick the next job.

Set a timer and race to see how much you can clean in x amount of minutes.

Sing while you work! It helps the time go by quicker and makes everything feel more fun. It worked for Snow White…